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This is an archived page from the 2019 Forum. Click here or return to the Forum home page for information on the upcoming 2021 Forum.

Pre-Forum Events on Monday, April 22, 2019

Arriving early to the Forum? There's plenty to do on Monday April 22, 2019 to help you get to know our Host City. Please click on the links below to learn about the Pre-Forum activities taking place on Monday April 22, 2019.

With a systems-based approach, Center for Resilient Cities is working toward a sustainable, resilient community in south-side Madison. Based upon neighborhood input and community needs, the Badger Rock Center was established to serve as a neighborhood center, including public meeting space and a public charter middle school, in a facility built to LEED-platinum standards (v2009 NC). See Badger Rock’s urban agriculture projects and unique infrastructure and learn how the Forum’s travel offset support will enhance the space as a vehicle for community resilience.

Ho-Chunk Nation Cultural Landscape Tour

April 22, 2019 from 5:30-7:00 PM

For 12,000 years, humans have lived along the shores of Waaksikhomik (Where The Man Lies, Ho-Chunk language for what is now called Lake Mendota) in Teejop (Four Lakes, Ho-Chunk language for this region). Since 1832, or the last 1.5% of the human story of Teejop, the demography of Teejop changed from a 99% Ho-Chunk world to a 99% non-Native American population. Similarly, in the last 1.5% of the human story of Teejop, the ecology of Teejop has rapidly and radically changed from oak savanna and wetlands into a largely non-indigenous species, urban forest built upon landfill of the former wetlands of Teejop. Research illuminates that UW–Madison is very likely the most archaeologically-rich campus in the United States with its 12,000 years of human settlement. The tour will explore the Waaksikhomik shoreline which features 11 architectural earthwork mound sites and at least 28 human habitation sites. Led by Bill Quackenbush, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and Cultural Resources Division Manager of the Ho-Chunk Nation.

The Nelson Institute 2019 Earth Day Conference

"Imagine And Adapt: Possibilities In A Changing World"

From 8am to 5pm at the Monona Terrace

From the rising seas and the rushing flood waters to record-breaking heat waves and shifting landscapes, climate change is transforming the way we live. Our rapidly changing world requires us to adapt to a very different planet while imagining practical solutions to the challenges we face. The Nelson Institute 2019 Earth Day Conference, Imagine and Adapt: Possibilities in a Changing World, will explore these challenges and resolutions through a number of straightforward, solution-focused sessions on topics such as adaptive infrastructure, environmental leadership, changes in agriculture and the cultural impact of climate change. Featuring keynote speaker and climate-fiction author, Kim Stanley Robinson, climate change adaptation leader Yolanda Joab, and leading thinkers and creative problem solvers, this conference will offer attendees the opportunity to learn about the innovative solutions available to help us adapt to the impacts of our changing reality.

Action at the Mitigation-Resilience-Equity Nexus (Open to Forum Attendees)

This workshop will provide an opportunity to co-develop with other members and dive deep into the creative side of your brain. Kristin Baja (USDN Climate Resilience Officer) will lead members through an interactive workshop focused on building out a comprehensive list of strategies and actions at the mitigation, adaptation, equity nexus. Members will build upon common climate actions and integrate new and innovative approaches that have multiple benefits. At the end of this session, members will have developed a comprehensive list of actions and metrics that can be utilized in current and future planning and implementation efforts.

April 22 from 12:00pm - 6:30 pm at the Madison Concourse Hotel | University A and B

Regional Collaborative Forum Convening (invite-only)

The Georgetown Climate Center (GCC), the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), and the Local Government Commission (LGC) will be hosting a convening, in advance of the National Adaptation Forum, to support peer-learning among regional climate adaptation collaboratives. The convening will be held at the Madison Concourse Hotel on Monday, April 22 from 2:30-5:30pm. This convening will seek to advance the conversations that regional collaboratives currently engage in at a nationwide scale through the Regional Collaborative Forum (RCF). The RCF is a bimonthly call series that brings together collaboratives for facilitated discussion and peer-learning on adaptation topics selected by the collaboratives (e.g., institutionalizing climate change in decisionmaking, the role of regional collaboratives in promoting equity). The goals of this in-person session are to: deepen relationships between RCF members and partners through peer learning and problem solving; strategize how best to further the work of regional collaboratives at various scales; and develop ideas for how best to advance the work of regional collaboratives through a shared national agenda. This event is invite-only, but if you are a member of a cross-jurisdictional regional climate collaborative (or your region is considering forming one) and are interested in joining for this event, please reach out to Annie Bennett (bennett@georgetown.edu) for additional information.